2 months ago
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An autorickshaw operator and 3 passengers had a constrictive flight erstwhile a dense gross astatine the main entranceway of the recently renovated Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) International Stadium, Kaloor, collapsed with a large thud connected Friday (March 6, 2026) astir 5.30 p.m.
The stadium, owned by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), was renovated past twelvemonth by a backstage sponsor, Reporter Broadcasting Corporation, which claimed to person spent astir ₹70 crore connected the works.
Chandran, the autorickshaw driver, was ferrying passengers to the autobus halt adjacent the stadium erstwhile the incidental occurred. “I saw a information defender astatine the entranceway pushing the gate, which abruptly started to collapse. I was fortunate to use the brake astatine the nick of time, narrowly avoiding it crashing into my vehicle,” helium said. “The incident, which occurred during highest hours erstwhile motorists and pedestrians were passing done the entrance, could person had sedate consequences,” helium added.
Though the defender and autorickshaw drivers adjacent tried to determination the collapsed gross disconnected the road, they were incapable to bash truthful owing to its weight. GCDA sources said the gross came disconnected its hinges arsenic the defender attempted to adjacent it. It was aboriginal cordoned off. GCDA engineers are scheduled to inspect the tract connected Saturday (March 7, 2026).
This is the 2nd incidental to formed a shadiness connected the caller renovation works. Last month, the stadium extortion leaked heavy during the archetypal spell of showers, connected the eve of Kerala Blasters FC’s play opener successful the Indian Super League. The occurrence triggered a flood of memes connected societal media, 1 of them captioned: “Free showers arsenic good for Messi.” successful an evident notation to the planetary affable matched that was expected to beryllium hosted by the stadium past year.
The renovation was undertaken successful mentation for an planetary affable featuring defending World Cup champions Argentina, led by Lionel Messi. The match, primitively scheduled for November 25, 2025, has since been postponed. The sponsor handed backmost the stadium to the GCDA connected November 28 aft claiming completion of the works. The GCDA’s determination to entrust the stadium’s renovation to a backstage sponsor had attracted sizeable criticism.
